Wednesday, April 25, 2012

V is for Victoria Peak

Let me put it this way-Hong Kong has a lot going on. Its a crazy busy city and a person could get a crick in their neck walking around here.

My word this city is high.

Which is why it was nice to get above it all and look down for a change. Victoria Peak is the highest mountain on the island proper but not the highest mountain in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong geography is slightly confusing, isn't it?

I went up to the top two different days while I was in town. Our first day in HK hubs and his colleague S went off to work so E and I rode the funicular railway up to the top of Victoria Peak. Have I mentioned how steep this city is? Once it started climbing our railroad car was almost vertical. But it is attached to a track and not hanging over a canyon by a thread so I'm game.

A funicular is also known as a cliff railway. Physics was never my best subject but essentially this means two cars are permanently attached to one another via a cable and this cable runs thru a pulley at the top of an incline. The two cars are counterbalanced so that one is going up while the other is coming down. Easy peasy. The Peak Tram opened in 1888 and was the first funicular in Asia.

All this to say, if you ever get to Hong Kong riding the funicular to the top of the mountain is a must-do. The views are stunning. When E and I went up the skies were a little bit hazy. Still, gorgeous. I read somewhere that Hong Kong has the world's largest number of skyscrapers and I think that must be true.

There's more going on up top than just the views. There's a mall of course because this is Hong Kong and in Hong Kong we shop. There are homes and apartments sprinkled here and there all the way up the mountain so it makes sense there'd be a small market, a petrol station, offices and a preschool. There's even a shout out to the Big Apple-

We did not sample so I cannot speak to the accuracy of 'New York' style.

There are lots of walking trails and paths around the mountain so E and I decided we'd take the scenic route and walk down. When I say down I mean straight down. Oh my achin' calves.

It took about an hour to walk down and we were mostly in the rain forest but every now and then we'd have to walk on the road aka take your chances with cars coming around blind curves, and you with no where to go but into the wall or over the side. Good times.

Actually it was.

How'd you like to be operating this crane perched on the literal edge of the mountain? It is high. HIGH! Really really HIGH! Yes I'm shouting. I'm just not sure the photos do it justice.

The hubs and I returned to the top of Victoria Peak with our friends G and A. We took a taxi up though because it was a holiday weekend in China and the queues for the funicular were ridicular. Ha.

We took pictures and laughed a lot. Earlier in the day we'd seen some models posing for a photo shoot-

Not to be outdone...they needed to re-create the shoot.

So fun having friends to hang out with high above the harbour.

The back side of the mountain leads to the wide open sea and the islands that comprise the rest of Hong Kong.

Of course, I'll just enjoy your pictures cause I am NOT getting into anything going up or down that high! But walking it? Heck yes! Count me IN! Another beautifully written post with delightful photos!

You put the FUN in funicular...and made me laugh out loud with ridicular! And "nowhere to go but into the mountain or over the edge." Yeez, I got noivous looking at skyscapers tha even Spiderman might think twice about. Your hubby and his friend are the goofiest models.